Various applications are known where it is desirable to transmit data between a first vehicle and a second vehicle. For example, the first vehicle may be in the vicinity of the second vehicle or may be, in particular, driving ahead of the second vehicle. Such applications may reside in the field of driver assistance, e.g.: warning of dangerous situations on the road, exchange of driving-related data between the first and second vehicles, etc. Such applications are sometimes referred to as car-to-car (c2c) communication.
With respect to such techniques it may be necessary to check from time to time whether the first and second vehicles are within a vicinity with respect to each other and, in particular, whether the first vehicle is driving ahead of the second vehicle. In this regard, techniques are known which establish a wireless data connection between the first and second vehicles. For example, such techniques of pairing the data connection between the first and second vehicles may include exchanging position data between the first and second vehicles, the position data indicating a position of the first vehicle and/or of the second vehicle. E.g., based on this position data, it may be determined whether the first and second vehicles are within the vicinity of each other. In a simple embodiment, determining whether this first and second images are in the vicinity of each other can be based on a signal level of the wireless data connection.
Yet, such techniques as mentioned above may face certain restrictions. For example, it may be comparably complex to establish the wireless data connection when relying on such previously known techniques; e.g., a comparably large amount of data may need to be transmitted between the first and second vehicles. In other reference implementations, the decision criterion for whether the first and second vehicles are within the vicinity of each other may be comparably vague and/or imprecise. E.g., if the decision of pairing is based on the signal level, this may result in a not very well differentiated pairing criterion. Scenarios may occur where the wireless data connection is established, but the first and second vehicles are in fact not within the vicinity with respect to each other.
Therefore, a need exists for advanced techniques of establishing a wireless data connection between a first vehicle and a second vehicle. In particular, a need exists for such techniques which establish the wireless data connection if the first vehicle is driving ahead of the second vehicle, e.g., which consider the first and second vehicles driving in immediate succession. Moreover, a need exists for such techniques which establish the wireless data connection without complex pairing sequences, e.g., requiring a large amount of data to be transmitted between the first and second vehicles, yet, at the same time reliably consider the above-mentioned pairing criterion.